Some sportsbooks will not offer ‘under’ prop bets on NBA players who are on two-way or 10-day contracts this season.
As first reported by ESPN insider David Purdum on Friday and confirmed to SBC Americas by an NBA spokesperson, the pivot is the result of discussions between the league and its sportsbook partners in an effort to combat game manipulation.
“We are pleased that these actions have been taken to help protect the integrity of our games,” the spokesperson said.
Purdum adds that DraftKings and FanDuel are among the sportsbooks that have agreed not to offer the specific prop bets on two-duy or 10-day contract players.
SBC Americas reached out to those two operators and other sportsbooks seeking confirmation.
FanDuel told SBC Americas simply that “we adhere to all policies of our league partners.”
“DraftKings is in alignment with the NBA and we are thankful for the opportunity to engage with them on the topic,” said a DraftKings spokesperson in an email. “We look forward to tipoff and engaging with passionate NBA fans all season long.”
Penn Entertainment also confirmed to SBC Americas that ESPN Bet will no longer be offering these wagers.
Should the league choose to take more formal action, in most states they are also able to petition regulators and request for markets to be removed from a betting catalog. The NCAA has successfully petitioned several state regulators to remove individual player props on college athletes.
Move comes after two-way player Porter banned for life
Jontay Porter was on a one-year, two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors at the time that he was investigated for his involvement in a betting scheme that involved him manipulating his own performances so that ‘under’ prop bets cashed in.
Porter subsequently pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for his actions, which resulted in him being banned for life from the NBA by commissioner Adam Silver.
The Raptor was found to have provided insider information to a group of co-conspirators to pay back significant gambling debts. The co-conspirators allegedly encouraged Porter to exit certain NBA games early to pay his debt. One of the co-conspirators won $1 million from a bet of more than $100,000 that Porter would play a maximum of three minutes against the Sacramento Kings in March. Porter withdrew from the game before hitting three minutes of playing time.
Silver, others have highlighted prop bet concerns
This week, Silver told the Associated Press that he doesn’t regret writing a 2014 New York Times op-ed definitively advocating for sports betting expansion. However, he admitted that “the downsides of sports betting certainly exist,” citing incidents of underaged people betting or people gambling until they’re in over their heads.
However, he is one of multiple notable people to have suggested in the past that player prop bets can be particularly troublesome to regulate as they “lend themselves to more shenanigans than other kinds of bets.”
NCAA President Charlie Baker has been a more staunch advocate for player props being curbed. In March, he issued a statement urging all states that have legalized sports betting to prohibit individual prop bets for college athletics events, noting that these bets not only lead to athlete harassment but threaten the integrity of competition.
